Hi there - yes impact factor is very general consideration. Some things to think about when selecting a journal:

1) Make sure there is a clear field category match between your subject matter, your title, your methodology, your theory... and what would be usual for publication in the journal of choice. Check the journal website for their remit. The more of these criteria that match the more suitable the journal will be.

2) Think about whether you need to publish in a national, international, or top journal. Is this paper your best work, and if so, is it some of the best work now in the field? Ask two good Professors to advise.

3) Would a short report suffice for a top journal in your field rather than a full length paper? Could you condense your work to a 4-6 page paper for your first submission to a top journal. Often the editors have a preference for established authors and their theme, so the short reports are often where you will find emerging authors.  

4) Maybe think about your career trajectory - how will this journal reflect on a theme of publication in an area to reflect your academic identity.

5) Now think about impact factor. .8 or above is perfect for an early career researcher.

:)

I wish that there was an easy definitive answer to your question. Instead, I will give you my opinion. You are looking at this question from the publishing point of view, i.e., what is best for the author. Many would say impact factor, indexation, reach are very important, among other things such as publication speed and article format. I would suggest that your look at it from a different perspective. How do you, or other scientists, choose what journal you read? Do you have a list of journals that you read from cover to cover when a new issue comes out? This might have been the case before the digital revolution, but I suspect that the way scientists find what they read has changed considerably in the last 10-20 years. You find articles rthrough a google search, an RSS feed, a link in another article, twitter, platforms like researchgate, etc. This evens the playing field considerably. If the work is good, it shoudn't matter where it is published

My suggestion is to focus on identifying the target audience by considering these important questions:

Who will benefit the most from the results you intend to publish?

Are the results and conclusions of general interest?

Would the results be of more interest to researchers in a particular field? 

Where are researchers in your field publishing their work?

One of the biggest mistakes that authors make is to choose a journal based on its reputation or impact factor without considering other factors such as the audience, scope, costs, copyright options, and publishing time. There is nothing wrong with aiming high, but you need to consider the consequences. Submitting a manuscript to the wrong journal could waste valuable time for both you and the editor. Yes, the journal’s impact factor or prestige may still be an important consideration, but the availability and increased acceptance of article-level metrics means that you can still get recognition for your work even in a journal with a lower impact factor. Presenting great results to an audience that is not interested will not be of benefit. Presenting your results to an audience that will engage with your work and cite your work is far more valuable and should be the primary consideration when choosing your target journal.

Hello,

I hope the following link can provide you with a comprehensive description of what you are looking for.

Best of luck,

R. Biria

https://www.humfak.umu.se/digitalAssets/148/148368_fadcubkursht14.pdf

Hola Consuelo

It also depends on what are the criterions used by your institutions for your assessment... there are plenty of interesting journals which are not indexed, specially in "non-hard" science, but will publish in them be counted for your assessment?

I copy you a paper Ive recently written about this topic.

I hope it is useful.

Gil

Working Paper The indexation of scientific journals and the bibliometry: e...

Dear Consuelo,

Here are the most important criteria for choosing a journal.

1. Ease of identification of journal and publisher

- on the website of the journal

- positioning the publisher in the scientific publishing landscape

- publisher member of bodies, associations of the domain

2. Selection and validation process:

- Reading committee and clarity of peer reviewing process

- composition of the reading committee

3. Notoriety of the magazine:

- recognition and integration in lists of scientific journals (ERIH / ERIH PLUS, HCERES, DOAJ for open access journals ...)

- presence of the journal in the main bibliographies of the discipline

- bibliometric measurements (impact factor, etc.)

- knowledge of the journal by the researchers of the discipline

4. Hearing / specialization of the journal

- specialized journal on a generalist and interdisciplinary field or journal

- publication in English (international visibility) or in English and French (Francophonie)

5. Modality of dissemination of the journal:

- paying or open access magazine

- scale of circulation: circulation, frequency, speed of diffusion / time of publication

- dissemination medium: electronic or non-electronic media, visibility on the Internet

6. Rights Management (depending on type of review):

- accuracy and adequacy of the proposed contract, level of assignment of rights

- clarity, legibility and reliability of the economic model

7. Publication Fees

- clear information on publication costs

Following the Open Access Spectrum (OAS) Evaluation Tool proposed by SPARC, here are two other tools to help researchers choose a journal:

Quality Open Access Market (QOAM), a Dutch initiative, is intended for researchers wishing to publish in a high-quality open access journal at reasonable cost. Quality is determined by the scientific community through a Journal Score Cards. Cost information comes from the journal's website;

Think Check Submit (TCS) is designed specifically for young researchers by providing a list of questions to guide them in selecting a journal (knowledge of the journal by the community, the editor, the editorial board, the process Peer-review, cost ...). This offer is coordinated by associations - ALPSP, INASP, LIBER, OASPA, STM, UKSG - DOAJ, ISSN and publishers - BioMed Central, Springer Nature and Ubiquity Press.

With my best regards

Prof. Bachir ACHOUR

First be sure whether the journal is original or fake by checking indexing in different well establish database. then check the aim and scope of the journal whether it fits your topics. finally check the ranking of the journal. You can refer these 2 websites:

http://isindexing.com/isi/journals.php

http://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php

Thanks!

If you already have the title and abstract for your article, you can use the following tools from Elsevier and Springer to help you pick a right journal among those that belong to the respective publisher

http://journalfinder.elsevier.com

http://journalsuggester.springer.com

The output of these tools shows inter alia average article processing times and impact factors of the journals and, if I recall correctly, also publication fees and open access fees.

In many journals you can publish free of charge if you do NOT make your article open access (i.e. it is available only to journal subscribers), but this should be checked for each journal separately.

Once you make a short list of potentially suitable journals, you can check whether they are covered by Scopus here

https://blog.scopus.com/posts/titles-indexed-in-scopus-check-before-you-publish

and by Web of Science here

https://mjl.clarivate.com

Usually, we just check the impact factor, and whether it is indexed in ISI and/or Scopus...

Another important consideration is to know where your research community (i.e. scientists/researchers with similar research interests) publish their works...